Boolean logic is driving me crazy

Question

I am using a CRM called Infusionsoft to build out a campaign flow for contacts to travel down as they progress through the automated experience we are creating for them.

The logic SEEMS simple, but I can't for the life of me figure out why the logic configuration in their "decision diamond" has two versions of "And" logic to apply.

Here's my scenario:

A contact record is moving down a path, when it hits a certain point, I want to evaluate which path I should take them down. There are 6 options, as follows...

• Path 1 - Contact has Tag 1
• Path 2 - Contact has Tag 2
• Path 3 - Contact has Tag 3
• Path 4 - Contact has Tag 4
• Path 5 - Contact has Tag 5
• Path 6 - Contact does not have Tag 1 or Tag 2 or Tag 3 or Tag 4 or Tag 5 - they have NONE of the tags

Based on the CRM's documentation I can't use "or" logic. That part makes sense to me, because it only evaluates the first part of the rule. That's all fine and dandy. They say that you should use "AND" logic, however, they don't mention WHICH "AND" to use. Their support was no help at all when I asked this question, so I figured I'd turn to the pros.

In this photo Decision Diamond Logic I have an example of one of the basic rules (has a single tag) as well as two versions of the "Doesn't have any of the tags" paths.

Option 1 uses one version of their "and" logic (the "+ and" that is directly to the right of the rule logic setup).

Option 2 uses the other version of their "and" logic (the "+ And" underneath the rule logic setup).

When I run a test through the paths to see where someone goes if they have a random test tag I created called "taggy-testerson" it shows that the contact will be sent to both Option 1 and Option 2.

If I test with both "taggy-testerson" and "Tag 1" applied to the contact they only go down Path 1 (which is what I want to happen).

So why on earth are there two versions of the "And" operator? For the future, I want to make sure I'm using these correctly and I just don't understand why there are two.

TYIA

Answer 1

There's a section on advanced logic here: https://help.infusionsoft.com/help/decision-diamonds#advanced-logic

Please make sure to test using the built in decision diamond testing functionality to make sure it works as expected for each of the use cases in regard to having or not having the various combinations of tags and that it goes to the right sequences, etc.

My understanding is that each line is a separate rule wrapped within its own set of parenthesis. The AND's and OR's there will work as expected.

But when there's a "doesn't contain" and a list on the same line of AND's and/or OR's, this relates only to the doesn't contain. If it's on a separate line, it's a different rule unrelated to the doesn't contain logic.

See this video from Keap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OGKc5l_c9o

So a quick recap according to how it's presented in the video:

If the Contact's Tags doesn't contain Tag A and Tag B

"Let's say we wanted to funnel our contacts based on the tags that they do not have, versus the tags they do have, if we use doesn't contain, and the AND statement, they will only proceed if the contact does not have any of the tags selected" "So if the test contact record, myself, has Tag A but does not have Tag B, then I do not meet the rule criteria to move into sequence A. I do not go that route." "If i want to move forward, the contact record, must not have any of the tags selected in the rule logic"

If the Contact's Tags doesn't contain Tag C or Tag D

"This next bit is where we see a lot of issues with, if we use the doesn't contain, along with the OR statement as seen in the rules for Sequence B, the contact only needs to have at least one of these tags missing from their contact record to continue. For example, if I have Tag D and not Tag C, I go forward. All it takes is for my contact contact not to have either Tag C or Tag D and I meet the criteria."

In summary:

If the Contact's Tags doesn't contain Tag A and Tag B

In order for the contact to move forward to the sequence, the contact must not have any of the tags in the rule criteria. If they have no tags whatsoever, they meet the criteria to proceed to the sequence.

So it's basically read like so:

If the Contact's Tags doesn't contain Tag A and Tag B
means:
If (
the Contact's Tags doesn't contain Tag A
And 
the Contact's Tags doesn't contain Tag B
)

If the Contact's Tags doesn't contain Tag C or Tag D

In order for the contact to meet the criteria to move forward to the sequence, all it takes is for the contact to not have any one of the tags. If they have all the tags, they do not proceed.

So it's basically read like so:

If the Contact's Tags doesn't contain Tag C or Tag D
means:
If (
the Contact's Tags doesn't contain Tag C
Or 
the Contact's Tags doesn't contain Tag D
)

Please also double check all decision diamond logic for the various use cases of different tag combinations using the built-in tester: See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_v-nPL3hNw